The present invention relates generally to stations for supporting intermediate bulk containers, and, more particularly, to one-piece stations for containing spills of hazardous materials.
Intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) are large containers, often made of plastic or fiberglass, that are used in manufacturing environments to hold and dispense large quantities (often, 300 to 1200 gallons) of liquids. They are very heavy when full and so are often moved by cranes or placed on pallets to allow for forklift or hand truck transport.
Sometimes, the liquid held by an IBC is hazardous if it enters the environment or comes into contact with humans. Thus, it is important (and often required by law) that a mechanism be put in place to contain possible spills of the IBC""s contents. To do this, the IBC is placed over a spill containment reservoir, typically a large tub made of corrosion-resistant plastic. The IBC is supported above the spill containment reservoir by a removable platform, usually either a metal frame or a plastic grill. The combination of containment reservoir and support platform is called an IBC xe2x80x9cspill station.xe2x80x9d When combined with a forklift pallet, the spill station becomes an IBC xe2x80x9cspill pallet.xe2x80x9d
An IBC support platform must be strong enough to support the enormous weight of a full IBC. The spill containment reservoir must be able to accommodate a significant amount of spilled liquid, often, by law, up to 100% of the capacity of the IBC. These factors tend to endow IBC spill stations with such large sizes and weights that manufacturing, using, and storing them all become awkward operations.
A manufacturer often produces the separate spill containment reservoirs and support platforms in separate assembly areas due to differences in the materials or in the manufacturing technologies used. This increases the cost of manufacturing the spill station as does maintaining separate inventories and coordinating shipping of complete spill stations to customers.
The customer inherits the manufacturer""s problems of maintaining storage areas for the separate IBC spill station components. When a spill station is needed, all of these storage areas are accessed. In addition, the weight and size of a separate support platform make positioning it within a spill containment reservoir an awkward, and often a multi-person, task. Once an IBC spill station is assembled and in use, the view to the bottom of the containment reservoir may be partially blocked by a separate support grill. This blocked view may prevent early detection of a slow IBC leak and may thus lead in time to a much larger spill. In addition, the separate support grill prevents a worker from cleaning out the IBC spill station with the support grill in place. Instead, the grill and the IBC resting on it must be removed before hosing out the spill station.
What has been needed is an IBC spill station that maintains the utility of existing designs but simplifies the manufacture, use, and storage of such devices.
The above problems and shortcomings, and others, are addressed by the present invention, which can be understood by referring to the specification, drawings, and claims. The present invention is a one-piece spill station with integral support for an IBC. Connected to and surrounding the periphery of a bottom wall is a containment wall that rises generally vertically. One or more support columns rise from the bottom wall and are topped with bearing areas that accept the weight of an IBC. The IBC bearing areas are located high enough above the top edge of the containment wall to allow a forklift to place an IBC on the bearing areas. The bottom wall, containment wall, and support columns define a spill containment reservoir. For additional strength and rigidity, ribs are molded into the containment wall and into the walls of the support columns.
In an embodiment of the invention, the support columns are strengthened either by making them larger at their bases than at their IBC bearing areas or by curving their walls. One or more dispensing stations may be formed into the one-piece spill station. In some embodiments, additional support columns are provided for a second IBC that sits next to the first IBC. A drainage aperture may be machined through the containment wall to allow spilled liquids to be drained out of the spill station.
The one-piece IBC spill station is preferably molded from a corrosion-resistant, non-porous material such as linear low density polyethylene. Because of the size and complicated form of the spill station, rotational molding is the preferred manufacturing technique. To ease the removal of the spill station from its manufacturing mold, the containment wall, support column walls, and strengthening ribs may be angled slightly away from the vertical.